Rafael Nadal Could Drop Out of Top Five Ahead of US Open 2016

14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal could drop out of the world’s top-five when the ATP releases the latest ranking on Monday.

Nadal, who crashed out in the third round of the ongoing Cincinnati Masters this week, will concede his No. 5 position to the sixth-ranked Milos Raonic, if the latter manages to win Saturday’s semi-final encounter against Andy Murray.

Having lost at the same stage last year, Nadal has nothing to add on to his tally. But that Raonic had been beaten in the first round in 2015, implies that he will surpass the 395-point gap by reaching the finals, which assures a player with 600 points.

Should this happen, it will be a big blow for the Spanish flag-bearer as the No. 5 ranking would assure a top-four seeding at the upcoming US Open (because of No. 3 Rogers Federer’s withdrawal).

As for Canadian Raonic, he will look to reclaim a career-best ranking of No. 4 by defeating the top-seeded Murray.